Hockey stick blades typically are formed from a core such as wood or foam that is wrapped with cloth having reinforcing fibers, such as fiberglass or carbon fibers, and bonded in resin. Such a design is susceptible to delamination as the blade wears during use, resulting in breakage. In addition, with carbon fiber cloth reinforced blades, the high stiffness of the bonded carbon fiber prevents impact absorption when stick handling a hockey puck. Such high stiffness typically causes the puck to easily bounce off the blade, reducing the ability of the user to feel and sense when and where the puck is on the blade without looking, which is most of the time during a play.